Month: October 2008

10TH SESSION OF ARMENIAN-RUSSIAN INTER-GOVERNMENTAL ECONOMIC COOPERATION COMMISSION OPENS IN YEREVAN

ARMENPRESS
Oct 20, 2008

YEREVAN, OCTOBER 20, ARMENPRESS: The 10th session of the
Armenian-Russian intergovernmental economic cooperation commission
took place today with the presence of the Armenian Prime Minister
Tigran Sargsyan and Russian Transport Minister Igor Levitin. During
the session a number of issues of bilateral interests were discussed.

Armenian Prime Minister Tigran Sargsyan said that today’s session
will give an opportunity to move and continue the solution of issues
presenting mutual interest. "This session is special as it is being
held on the eve of the visit of the President of Russia Dmitri
Medvedev. I am sure the results of our work will be assessed by the
presidents of the two countries," the prime minister said.

After the end of the session Tigran Sargsyan said that they have
discussed main directions of cooperation in transport, energy and
other spheres.

"There is no such sphere which is not being paid attention,
starting from the energy to humanitarian, educational,
telecommunication. Previously we were focused mainly on the energy
sphere where all the issues have already been solved. It gives us
an opportunity to expand cooperation in other spheres," the prime
minister said.

Igor Levitin also stated that the economic cooperation between the
two countries continues developing and all the bases exist for annual
increase of volume of trade turnover between the two countries.

"It is very important that this year our session became the useful tool
which supported business. It is very important that representatives
of business sphere participated in it. We gave solutions to all the
conflicting issues and managed to reach agreements and sign a number
of documents promoting the development of business," Russian transport
minister said.

At the end of the session the participants signed declaration which
sums up the results of the work of this year and points out the
further ways of the economic development of the two countries.

BY-ELECTION IN ODZUN

A1+
[08:15 pm] 20 October, 2008

Taking into account the results of vote counting and the number
of naccuracies a by-election will be held in the village of Odzun,
Lori Marz, in 21 days.

Yesterday an election to the village head took place in Odzun. The
incumbent village head Republican Melik Ayvazyan was reelected to the
post leaving behind his non-party rival Arsen Titanyan with four votes.

Arsen Titanyan denounced the vote with his team. They spent the whole
night near precinct 33 and demanded vote recounting. Lori’s marzpet
arrived at the precinct late at night with a police escort to ease
the tense atmosphere.

To note, 69 cases of inaccuracies have been revealed during today’s
vote counting. Actually, Melik Ayvazyan has got 1078 while his
contender Arsen Titanyan 1123 votes.

NON-PARTY CANDIDATE WINS OVER HIS REPUBLICAN CONTENDER

A1+
[05:04 pm] 20 October, 2008

Elections to self-government bodies were conducted in the marzes of
Armavir, Lori and Tavush on October 19. Mostly, Republican candidates
won the local elections.

According to the Central Election Commission Republican Andranik
Sharyan won in the city of Berd getting 1715 votes. His rivals
non-party candidates Hmayak Adamyan and Ashot Melikyan got 39 and 489
votes respectively. 4099 out of 7477 eligible voters participated in
the vote.

Non-party candidates Robert Grigoryan and Ashot Grigoryan were
nominated in the city of Metsamor. Robert Grigoryan got 3049 and his
contender Ashot Grigoryan 1603 votes.

BILLS VOTED DOWN

A1+
[07:03 pm] 20 October, 2008

Today the National Assembly refused to put the draft bills on reviewing
the restraint of detained or wanted MPs and annulling the decisions
on the NA agenda. The bills were proposed by the Heritage faction.

"As the vote was open the deputies showed their true selves and true
colours. It was an excellent exam for our parliamentarians," Heritage
Party MP Zaruhi Postanjian said to A1+.

To note, only 77 of the 113 registered deputie s participated in the
vote. The bill was voted down with 15 votes in favour, 32 against
and 30 abstentions.

It is due to mention that the ex Speaker of the National Assembly,
Tigran Torossyan, who used to urge his fellow collagues to support the
Prosecutor General’s mediation to change the restraint by detention
today voted for the draft bill.

The bill was also supported by Victor Dallakyan, Hakob Hakobyan,
Michael Vardanyan, Ara Nranyan, Armen Abrahamyan, Melik Manukyan and
the Heritage faction.

"Today the National Assembly stood a good chance to correct its
mistake. We tried to help our deputies to find a way out of this
cul-de-sac, but they disregarded our advice. They think the harder
they press, the better for them," said Zaruhi Postanjyan.

Today the National Assembly rejected the involvement of draft
amendments to the laws on "Electoral Code," and "Meetings, Assemblies,
Marches and Demonstrations" in the NA agenda.

"The amendments aimed to enhance democratic institutes but they were
all rejected," noted Zaruhi Postanjyan.

Note, the amendments had been proposed by the Heritage Party.

SOLUTIONS HAVE BEEN FOUND

A1+
[04:04 pm] 20 October, 2008

The sitting of the Armenian-Russian Intergovernmental Commission
on Issues of Economic Cooperation between the Republic of Armenia
and the Russian Federation has kicked off at the "Metropol" Hotel
today. Before the sitting, the Co-Chairs of the Commission – Prime
Minister of Armenia Tigran Sargsyan and Minister of Transport
of Russia Igor Levitin – had a tete-a-tete meeting. Later, the
Co-Chairs participated in the opening of the 10th plenary sitting
of the Intergovernmental Commission. In his speech Co-Chair of the
Commission, RA Prime Minister Tigran Sargsyan said, in part:

"The first sitting of the Commission that took place in Yerevan on
July 1st, 1997, marked a new stage of economic cooperation between
our countries. The following years showed that we have an opportunity
to both solve the existing problems and issues, and determine the
perspectives of our long-term cooperation and discover new directions.

Today we can state with satisfaction that stable traditions of
activity of the Intergovernmental Commission have been shaped. The
Co-Chairs hold periodic meetings, which is important for coordinating
the activity of the Commission between the sittings.

I’m sure that today’s sitting will become the logical continuation of
the way passed over the past ten years and will provide an opportunity
to solve issues of reciprocal interest.

The current 10th sitting of the Commission is important also because
it takes place on the eve of the visit of the President of Russia
Dmirtry Medvedev to Armenia, and I hope that the results of our work
will be positively assessed by the leaders of our countries."

Co-Chairs of the Armenian-Russian Intergovernmental commission, Russian
Transport Minister Igor Levitin first thanked for warm welcome and
noted: "The economic cooperation between our countries continues
developing and it’s natural to hope that the bilateral commodity
turnover may reach $1 billion this year. It’s not the upper limit,
we have more ambitious programs in the long-term perspective, and I’d
like to say that the Armenian-Russian Intergovernmental Commission
fairly plays a great role in the cooperation of our economic and
business sectors.

I would like to thank experts of both Russian and Armenian sides for
the productive activity of our Commission, as well as representatives
of businesses, who help develop relations between our countries."

The participants of the sitting discussed and adopted decisions on
the process of accomplishment of the protocol of the 9th sitting
of the Armenian-Russian Intergovernmental Commission on Issues of
Economic Cooperation between the Republic of Armenia and the Russian
Federation held on September 14, 2007, the trade-economic relations
between the two countries, the current state and perspectives of the
contractual-legal basis, cooperation in the fields of fuel and energy
system, transport and ecology.

At the end of the sitting Tigran Sargsyan and Igor Levitin signed
the Protocol of the 10th sitting of the Intergovernmental Commission,
following which the Co-Chairs gave a joint press conference.

SHOP ASSISTANT CHAMPION OF ARMENIA

Panorama.am
21:19 20/10/2008

Siranush Grigoryan, shop assistant working in "Star" supermarket has
recently taken part in kick boxing competition in Kharberd and has
won the competition becoming champion of Armenia in "light" style.

The competition was organized by the Federation of Kick Boxing
of Armenia. Siranush has been trained for only one year and being
encouraged by her trainer Aramayis Hayrapetyan she took part in the
current competition. Siranush has been awarded a golden medal and
a certificate.

Siranush’s colleagues from "Star" supermarket organized a party
for her.

"ARMENIAN JAZZ 70": AL JERRO’S CONCERT IN YEREVAN

Panorama.am
21:22 20/10/2008

In the frames of "Armenian Jazz 70" world wide famous jazz superstar
Al Jerro will have one jazz concert presenting his "Love Songs"
concert program. The concert will take place in Opera and Ballet
National Academic Theatre named after Alexander Spendiaryan.

Note that famous Al Jerro started his career from church chorus
group. He songs in three different styles – jazz, pop and "R&B"
and has been awarded 7 Grammies.

From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

RUSSIAN INVESTMENTS IN ARMENIA 1.7 BILLION

Panorama.am
21:22 20/10/2008

Russian investments in Armenia form 1 billion 700 million USD, said
Igor Levitin, the Minister of Transport of Russia after the session
o Armenian-Russian intergovernmental committee on economic cooperation.

According to him the commodity circulation between Armenia and
Russia can reach 1 billion USD and notified that this should not be
limited. He said that this should serve as an alarm for the businessmen
to develop the circulation index.

"JOINT LANCE-BEARER 2008" MILITARY EXERCISES FINISHED

Panorama.am
19:26 20/10/2008

The closing ceremony of "Joint Lance-Bearer 2008" military exercises
has been conducted in military institute named after V. Sargsyan.

Representatives of 14 countries participating in NATO "Partnership
for Peace" project were present at the official ceremony, as well as
observers, who were taking part in the exercises from 8-20 October.

Some officers who took part in the exercises have been awarded by
NATO European headquarters and the Ministry of Defense of Armenia.

Concluding the achievements of the military exercises it is visible
that the goals are met and that it is a success that all the
participants from various countries passed the experience, said the
Minister of Defense of Armenia Seyran Ohanyan.

WILL THE AMERICANS ELECT A DARK-SKINNED PRESIDENT WITH QUITE A "PROBLEMATIC" MIDDLE NAME HUSSEIN?
Karine Ter-Sahakyan

PanARMENIAN.Net
18.10.2008 GMT+04:00

Presidential candidates are always inclined to forget their
pre-election promises, especially on such Â"embarrassingÂ" issues as
recognition of the Armenian Genocide or the right of Nagorno-Karabakh
people to self-determination.

Somewhat more than two weeks is left before the US Presidential
Elections. Despite the convincing victory of Barack Obama in all the
three TV debates it would be a bit optimistic to claim that Americans
are ready to elect as a US president a dark-skinned democrat candidate
with quite a Â"problematicÂ" middle name Hussein.

/PanARMENIAN.Net/ The American system of voting is rather bulky
and archaic, and on the whole it can hardly be called purely
democratic. Rather than directly voting for the President, United
States citizens cast votes for electors. Voters cast ballots for a
slate of electors of the U.S. Electoral College, who in turn directly
elect the President and Vice President. The number of electors
from each state is determined by its population, plus two votes of
senators. Washington D.C is given a number of electors equal to the
number held by the smallest states, i.e. three electors. Two states,
Maine and Nebraska, select one elector within each congressional
district by popular vote, and additionally select the remaining two
electors by the aggregate, statewide popular vote. Most states allow
voters to choose between statewide slates of electors pledged to vote
for the presidential and vice presidential tickets of various parties;
the ticket that receives the most votes statewide ‘wins’ all of the
votes cast by electors from that state. That is why U.S. presidential
campaigns concentrate on winning the popular vote in a combination of
states that choose a majority of the electors, rather than campaigning
to win the most votes nationally. Thus candidates other than those
representing the two main parties have hardly any chance to be
elected, though from time to time they introduce people to their
political and economic views. Besides the names of Barack Obama and
John McCain, another four independent candidates are included in
the ballot-papers of 2008. However, most of the electors do not know
them at all. About 55 million Americans support the Republicans, 72
million – the Democrats, while 42 million are independent in their
preference. These are rough estimates however. The last democrat
in the White House used to be President Bill Clinton, and now, if we
should follow the unvoiced tradition, after Republican George Bush, the
United States is to have a democrat president. On the other hand, the
proved method of the current President may be used, i.e. when George
Bush became Head of State by the decision of the US Supreme Court.

To some extent repetition of this scenario is unlikely, but
anything can be expected from America lately. Though the financial
crisis seriously shook the confidence of Americans in the current
Administration, there is no guarantee that they will not elect a
Republican for the mere reason that he is white, fought in Vietnam
and his Vice-President is a woman, who will play some role in public
organizations like Â"Women for equal electoral rightsÂ", and the like.

Meanwhile, on October 17 the Los Angeles Times, The Chicago Tribune,
The San Francisco Chronicle and the largest and oldest Spanish-language
daily newspaper in New York City El Diario/La Prensa endorsed Barack
Obama in their issues. Â"Obama is educated and eloquent, sober and
exciting, steady and mature. He represents the nation as it is,
and as it aspires to beÂ",- reported Los Angeles Times.

The Chicago Tribune, which usually backs up Republican candidates in
its Friday issue, endorsing a Democratic presidential nominee for the
first time, expresses "tremendous confidence" in Obama’s "intellectual
rigor, his moral compass and his ability to make sound, thoughtful,
and careful decisions." Â"He is readyÂ",- the paper concludes. In
its turn, The San Francisco Chronicle compares the behavior of the
two major-party candidates at the time of the economic crisis, and
concludes: "Barack Obama is the right president for these troubled
times". Earlier such influential US papers as The Washington Post,
The New Yorker, The Financial Times and Rolling Stone had announced
about their endorsement of Obama.

Such a rare unanimity may really help Obama win. We shouldn’t
also forget about the powerful Armenian Community in the US. The
organization "Armenians for Obama" founded by the Community, has
directed its activity not only to Armenians, but to other ethnic
groups as well. It is only the European lobby that is against Obama,
but as a matter of principle it may still review its position.

Â"Armenian Community in the US has the same problems as all the
Americans do, but alongside with these problems Armenian-Americans
attach great importance to the recognition of the Armenian Genocide
in the Ottoman Empire. Of course, this issue is not the most central
concern, but it is neither secondaryÂ",- said Arpi Vartanian, Country
Director for Armenia and Nagorno Karabakh in the Armenian Assembly
of America.

As far as Senator McCain is concerned, he is quite reluctant to
recognize the Armenian Genocide in the Ottoman Empire and is relatively
indifferent towards bilateral relations between the United States
and Armenia. However, the present stance may seriously hurt McCain,
at least in the states with a substantial Armenian-American presence,
such as California, New Jersey, Michigan, and Nevada.

In its most recent edition The Atlantic Monthly focuses on the Armenian
vote in the upcoming elections in an article entitled "McCain’s Armenia
Problem". As the article claims McCain is the first presidential
candidate in the past two decades who is on the record as opposing
genocide recognition without already being a member of the incumbent
Administration. In 1990, McCain voted against a recognition resolution
that was sponsored by then-Senate Minority Leader Bob Dole. In 2000,
campaigning for the Republican nomination in California, McCain
confirmed that he would not support such a resolution. "I don’t
see what this resolution does to improve this situation one iota,"
said McCain. The Senator has stuck to his position also in 2008,
attracting widespread criticism from Armenian groups. By contrast,
Obama has pledged that his Administration would recognize the 1915
extermination as an act of genocide. His campaign released two
statements on this issue on January 19 and on April 28. "The facts
are undeniable," his statements said. Obama’s January 19th statement
also pledged to maintain Armenian foreign aid and to move toward a
resolution of the Karabakh conflict that would respect the "principle
of self-determination" – a language close to Armenian demands.

Presidential candidates are usually inclined to forget their
pre-election promises, especially on such Â"embarrassingÂ" issues as
recognition of the Armenian Genocide or the right of Nagorno-Karabakh
people to self-determination. Will Barack Obama break this tradition?

–Boundary_(ID_dnDwZUWiU57JAtJs5v3Vyg) —

From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress